The 2010 Georgia Legislature took some positive steps to address the state’s $5 billion budget deficit, such as passing bills to raise almost $375 million in new revenues and to improve tax collections and transparency. But it also approved long-term tax cuts ($624 million a year when fully implemented) that will shift the cost of government services onto middle-class and low-income Georgians, says the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute.

Sales tax collections that support Atlanta’s rapid-transit system will not return to pre-recession levels until 2017, according to a new economic forecast. Georgia State University’s Rajeev Dhawan says sales tax revenue will continue to fall through 2011 and will take six more years to climb back to 2008 levels.

DeKalb County government and schools would realize a net loss of $19 million in property taxes if the county grants a 20-year tax break for a Brookhaven project, a review of the developer’s request shows. The developer, The Sembler Co., says its completed residential and shopping complex would generate taxes and fees that would far […]